NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS
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Three family doctors from the Waterloo-Wellington region have been recognized for their community and medical leadership by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
Elora’s Dr. Sarah Gower has been named the 2021 Regional Family Physician of the Year for the region of Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant and Waterloo Wellington. The Award is presented annually to seven Ontario family doctors – one from each region of the province – to recognize exemplary care to patients and contributions to excellence in family medicine.
Dr. Sharon Bal of Cambridge and Dr. Andrea Chittle of Guelph are each being honoured with a 2021 Award of Excellence. The College of Family Physicians of Canada Awards of Excellence recognize family doctors for exceptional achievement in the specialty of family medicine in the past 24 months. Nominations come from peers or the public to the provincial chapter of which the nominee is a member.
“Through their leadership and passion for patient care and advocacy, whether it be for women’s health, or advancing health system improvements and equity in medicine, or ensuring quality care for vulnerable populations, Dr. Gower, Dr. Bal, and Dr. Chittle have demonstrated their commitment to enhancing health care in the Waterloo-Wellington Region,” said Dr. Elizabeth Muggah, OCFP President. “These family doctors are highly respected and valued by their colleagues, patients, students and community partners, and I am delighted to acknowledge their outstanding accomplishments.”
Living by the motto on her Twitter profile – “Working to change the things I cannot accept,” Dr. Andrea Chittle’s refusal to accept is making a world of difference to her community. She has been heavily involved in the COVID-19 response in Guelph and surrounding region – from working at the local assessment centre since its inception, to providing online clinician educational sessions, to administering more than a thousand vaccines at the University of Guelph’s mass vaccination clinic.
When she saw a gap in patient information, Dr. Chittle developed multilingual and literacy-targeted patient handouts and coordinated their translation. These resources have been shared with COVID-19 assessment centres around Ontario. Dr. Chittle has also helped develop COVID-19 vaccine resources for clinicians and patients. Working with local organizations, she helped develop pandemic-safe protocols for organizations so they could continue providing essential care to patients – such as sexual health and reproductive services.
In 2019, Dr. Chittle stepped in as Board Chair of Guelph’s ARCH (HIV/AIDS Resources and Community Health) clinic, providing advice and support during a period of transition. ARCH includes a community-based HIV clinic, a harm reduction program, and more social and practical support for individuals living with HIV. Dr. Chittle’s involvement helped ensure that standards of care, support, and many other services to patients were maintained. When the pandemic hit, her support was instrumental in enabling ARCH to safely continue doing important front-line work in the community.
“Dr. Chittle demonstrates through her words and actions a commitment to support the health and social welfare of underserved populations,” said Jillian Watkins, Former Interim Executive Director at ARCH. “She was integral to the success of ARCH in supporting people living with, affected by, and at-risk for HIV in our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work was done as a volunteer, on top of all her many work and family responsibilities, because she cared about the health and wellbeing of her community."
The Ontario College of Family Physicians represents more than 15,000 family physicians across the province. We support our members by providing evidence-based education and professional development, promoting and recognizing leadership excellence in family medicine, and advocating for the vital role family physicians play in delivering the highest-quality care to patients and families across Ontario.
The Awards were presented virtually at the OCFP Awards Ceremony on Nov. 10, 2021. A list of all awardees is posted on the OCFP’s website.
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